


Diamond

by kmd0107



Series: Intarsia [3]
Category: Veronica Mars (TV)
Genre: Episode: s02e06 Rat Saw God, F/M, Gen, Scene Reimagined, Self-Reflection, motivation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 11:44:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12232170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kmd0107/pseuds/kmd0107
Summary: Maybe she was never good with shapes.  It doesn't matter to him one way or the other.





	Diamond

Veronica sagged against her car, world-weary and exhausted. Before her eyes, Able Koontz's body had been slowly giving out on him. He'd rallied for a brief moment as she lied about Amelia, his smile warm and relieved. She just couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth, instead, she gave him a story that would let him die thinking he'd done the right thing. Despite it being just one in a series of decisions that had ruined so many lives.

With a sigh she slid into the LeBaron and headed for the parking lot exit, her dad had a late night out planned so she was headed for the Grand. Thoughts of curling up with her adorable, honest boyfriend at the forefront of her mind. She drove down a line of cars when one caught her attention. A familiar silver Mercedes SUV.

Duncan's SUV at the hospital?

He had been spending time at the hospital off and on, but to her knowledge, not as much recently. She considered backing up to see if it was his license plate, but pressed the gas instead, surging out of the parking lot. If he was home when she arrived that would be fine. If he wasn't, that was fine too, more than fine.

Ignoring the tingle at the back of her mind she drove to the Grand and if she took her time walking through the parking lot, it was just because she was tired.

One foot placed in front of the other eventually brought Veronica to her destination, where she got off the elevator and pulled out her key card for Duncan's suite. Pushing the door open, she spotted him lying across the couch in his hideous argyle sweater shirt. She was struck with disappointment, hiding from the world for a few hours had gained its appeal as she'd put distance between herself and Abel's impending death.

She shook it off and refocused, deciding that the next time she saw the sweater in the laundry she was going to take it and burn it. But for the moment, she embraced the reassurance that Duncan was here, steady and normal.

Veronica moved around the coffee table and climbed on top of him nuzzling her head into his chest. Broad shoulders, hard chest, sandalwood and spices. Strong arms wrapped around her sending a hot, shivery, frisson through her body. She'd never gotten that feeling with Duncan. Duncan was safe and calm and if that made some of their more intimate moments a bit cool well Veronica had been willing to accept that. But these arms didn't make her feel normal, or safe. They were demanding and brought back memories of anger, sorrow, and passion-all the things she'd been hiding from.

She shifted to try to sit up but the arms locked and held her tightly for a moment, "It's the sweater, isn't it?" Logan said, his voice held both sarcasm and something softer.

Veronica raised her arms up to push away the magazine covering his face but ended up wrapping them around his neck. "Shhh-" she pulled herself tighter against his chest "-not yet Logan."

Veronica felt him sigh shakily and shift his body to hold her closer. A calm settled over her, like tiny gears clicking into place and releasing that thing that had been missing in her life. Lying in Duncan's suite wrapped in Logan's arms was the most in her own skin Veronica had felt in months. The realization caused her pulse to speed or maybe it was the gentle pattern Logan's fingers traced on her lower back. His thumbs putting just enough pressure to be soothing, relaxing, and exciting. She waited for guilt to well up in her, it never came.

"Why are you here, Logan?" she finally asked, squeezing her arms around his neck to let him know she didn't want him to let her go yet.

One of his arms released her but she felt the increased pressure from the other, he wasn't letting her go. A soft whoosh and thump let her know the magazine that had been covering his face was now on the floor. His arm returned to her back and pulled her up until Veronica was looking into his face. He was pale and his nose a little red. Dark bags beneath his eyes emphasized their red rims and burst vessels. She reached up to stroke his cheek, her thumb sweeping across the puffiness.

He leaned into her touch and let out a shaky breath. "It's all gone."

"What's gone?"

"Everything I had left of her." Veronica watched a single tear spill from his eye and stream down his cheek.

"I don't understand. What happened Logan?"

A cracked and broken laugh escaped Logan as he spoke. "I can't believe the great and powerful Mars doesn't know-" a choked sound escaped his throat "-my house burned down, someone burned my house down. I live here now."

A burning sensation built behind Veronica's eyes. His house was gone. ' _Everything I had left of her_ ' his words finally made sense. His mother. All her things. The first tears spilled out of Veronica's eyes as she sniffled and bit her lip.

Logan looked down at her and reached his arm up to wipe her tears away. "Careful Mars, I'll start to think you care."

Veronica stared into his so sad eyes. Deep brown and burning with all the things he'd lost. He was beautiful. She pressed her lips to his, putting all the things she couldn't say into the kiss.

Just a pressing of their lips morphed as Logan's hand tangled in her hair and his tongue swept across the seam of her lips, a surprise that led to the deepening of the kiss. Veronica's whole body burned and pulsed, an almost forgotten sensation.

He broke the kiss and drew away as he said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." His hands gripped her hips as if he was about to lift her off of him.

Veronica didn't want to go, didn't want to break contact with him. She'd denied what she wanted for months and now she realized what a mistake it had been to hide from it, from him. Instead of letting him push her away she held on tighter and pulled him into another kiss. This time she took control by tucking her knees and straddling his hips, eliciting a surprised groan from Logan. Veronica gripped his shoulders and pulled him up so she was sitting in his lap. She broke the kiss for air and moved down to kiss his neck and throat, breathing his scent in deeply as she went.

Logan made little pleasure noises as she sucked and nipped at his skin. She must have found a particularly sensitive spot because he moaned loudly. "God, Veronica. Please stop. If you don't I won't be able to."

"I don't want to stop." She looked up into his face; his cheeks were flushed with desire and he practically growled as he bent her back and worked his way down her neck finding all the spots that always drove her crazy. The boy had a real talent for it. Veronica shifted and felt him hard through her jeans. It was like she'd lost control of her body as she rocked herself against him trying to find friction. "Please Logan," she begged, holding him close.

She didn't have to ask twice. Logan stood and she wrapped her legs around him, clinging as he walked them out of the living room. A few steps and the wall struck Veronica's back, but she barely noticed as Logan pressed her into the wall and resumed kissing her. Veronica reached for the hem of Logan's shirt. She broke the kiss to pull the awful sweater over his head but he stopped her.

"Wait," he said taking several strained breaths. "This is a bad idea. I-"

"But..." she started and stopped, and dropped her legs back to the ground and crossed her arms in front of her, defensive, hurt. "You don't-"

"I do. I want you, but Veronica, I really want  _you_. Not just tonight when we're both clearly upset and you're still whatever you and Duncan are, remember?" He moved a little back. "I think we should go sit back down. If you still want this when we aren't both-" he waved a hand between them "-then we can talk."

Veronica felt hot tears in her eyes, she nodded rapidly and turned away from Logan.

Logan trailed after her, his feet making a faint shuffling sound. "Can we maybe just talk for a while? I've missed talking to you so much and out there we don't get to just talk. It's always accusations and anger."

She'd missed having someone to talk to as well. Sure she talked to Duncan but he didn't really listen and she didn't tell him anything of any real consequence. Duncan didn't know that after that first time they had sex that she had cried every night for a week from the nightmares. Logan's words that night hadn't helped but they also hadn't been the problem, just one more domino in the never-ending saga that began the night of Shelly Pomroy's party. She shocker her head, trying to throw the thought out her mind, and to refocus on the moment, a chance to be real.

"I'd like that. I've missed being able to talk to you too. Actually, I've just missed having anyone to talk to," she said, and it was one of the first honest things she'd said out loud in months. "God that felt good."

Logan raised a questioning brow and gave her an almost leer. "What felt good?"

"Telling the truth, get your mind out of the gutter," Veronica said unable not to smile. "Tell me something true Logan."

Logan sat down on the couch, shifting so he was lying down with his head in Veronica's lap. "Something true: I'm incredibly unhappy."

Veronica reached out and pushed her fingers through his thick hair. "Me too. I can't remember the last time I had a completely honest conversation," she confessed.

Logan closed his eyes and turned his face into her stomach. "I wanted to kill my dad earlier today and would have if I thought I could actually do it."

Veronica wasn't surprised by his desire to kill Aaron but by the second half of his statement. "You would have? Earlier today?"

"Wow, Veronica, where were you the last two days? I got arrested-again-for Felix's murder and they threw me in a cell with Aaron. Weren't you here when Sack's took me away?"

Veronica held him closer. She had been, but at the time she'd been so wrapped up in her dad losing the election and all the other things going on that she'd pushed it from her mind as much as possible. "I'm so sorry that happened. I should have done something..."

"You actually spoke to Cliff while he was with me." Logan smirked up at her. "What were you working on that kept you from giving me hell?"

"I was looking for Abel Koontz's daughter." Veronica swallowed back bile. "She had all the money from the Kane's and he was dying. He wanted to see her one last time."

"That makes sense. Did you find her?"

"Yes. But she..." She closed her eyes trying to regain her composure, but Logan's warm hand cupped her cheek and wiped away her tears. "She'd been murdered by her loser boyfriend who wanted her money. I found her body."

Logan's arms wrapped around her waist and squeezed her tight. "I'm so sorry."

Wanting to change the subject, Veronica gently asked, "What happened with your dad?"

"He tried to convince me that Duncan was the one who killed Lilly. That he'd been there, at the Kane's, but left." Logan's body shook and his grip around her waist tightened. "He's going to get away with killing Lilly. With trying to kill you. I...I don't know what to do."

Veronica held him tighter to her. She didn't know what to say. If she told him he was probably right that wouldn't help anything, and giving either of them false hope would be just that. So she opted for the truth. "I'm going to testify to what he did to me and so will my dad. We have the videos of him and Lilly together-he can't try to deny the affair. And Logan, are you going to testify against him?"

"I don't know yet. I'm not sure I can do it. I want to but-"

The door clicked and shut. Veronica looked up to find Duncan standing at the entrance to the suite, cast in a hazy shadow from the wall art, lines of orange and green highlighting his face in a macabre mask until he stepped further into the room revealing Duncan's typical placid expression and arms full with paper bags.

"Oh, good Veronica you're here. You tell her what's going on?" Duncan asked, no change in his tone or expression as he barely gave their intimate, if innocent, positions a second glance.

Logan sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes briefly before turning to Duncan, a quick look of confusion flashed at Veronica as he turned. "Yeah, we were just talking. I didn't mean-"

"Great. Maybe you two can do dinner? I know we'd sort of made plans but I can't stay, got a call from Dad and I have to catch the jet up to Napa." He shrugged like he was relaying any other unimportant piece of information. "Logan's had a rough day Veronica, so go easy on him," Duncan said, an easy smile settling across his face before he turned to put away the bags of groceries he'd carried into the room.

Veronica caught Logan's eye and tried to convey her utter confusion at Duncan's non-reaction to seeing them in a rather intimate position, but Logan shook his head no and then stood and took the few steps to the kitchenette.

"No problem, Man. Thanks for the hospitality and all. I'll take good care of your girl while you're away."

Veronica stood up from the couch and moved to intercept Duncan as he grabbed a duffle bag from the end of his bed.

"Napa?"

"Yeah, not sure for how long. Probably end up missing a few days of school. I'll see you when I get back." Duncan pressed a dry kiss to her cheek, shot Logan a finger gun solute, and was pulling open the door before Veronica could even register what had happened.

"So, dinner? Couldn't be any weirder than that."

_Well, Veronica, what's it going to be? Normal or a journey to the dark side?_

Veronica turned to Logan and nodded. "Dinner. I vote room service."

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, so this took a lot longer to get up than I originally planned! This is going to end up having one more chapter but I couldn't resist finally getting at least the first part posted.
> 
> Thank you to all of you who have sent me messages and left comments of encouragement, they mean so much! This past year has been pretty crazy for me so not much writing has been happening. Unfortunately, I can't say that's going to change much since about the time my work life is going to calm down my personal life is about to get a whole lot busier as we welcome a little girl (or so the ultrasound tech keeps assuring us) in mid-late November. I do hope to post the second part of this and some updates on my other works over the next few months, so fingers crossed I'm able to get some more writing done.


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